Draco Malfoy Is Not Evil
by CatHasClaws
Summary: *INDEFINITE HIATUS* Shane starts Hogwarts on the wrong side. She loses her best friend. And people think she's evil. All Because of Draco Malfoy. Who she may or may not be in love with. non-canon.
1. A Woman, Who Was A Cat

Why is my life so shit? Okay, so I know all teenagers think of their lives as being less than great, but really, my life is more terrible than anyone even knows.

First of all, no one will adopt me. I've been in the foster care system for my whole life, going from foster family to foster family. But no one will keep me for longer than a few months at best. The longest I ever stayed somewhere was only a little over half a year. The truth is they can all tell I'm not normal, it just takes some of them longer to see it than others is all.

It goes way beyond my personality traits as well. I mean, sure I get called 'emo' and worse for the music I listen to, and my clothes are never fashionable, because I don't care about that stuff. The really abnormal things start when I get angry, because weird things start to happen. In fact, whenever I go through a strong emotion of any kind, strange things happen. Plates break all by themselves, the weather changes, windows and doors rattle and slam. All sorts of weird things. I swear it's not my fault, but even I don't believe it. So why should they?

And, as the number of foster families willing to take me in dwindles, so do the standards. The houses I've been living in are getting worse. More kids packed in to smaller spaces, disgusting hygiene issues. Some really terrible things, up to and including drug use and abusive behavior and sometimes beyond that. No one wants to hear my horrific tale of woe. So I won't bore you. But, let's make one thing clear. I'm a damaged soul.

Well, when my life really changed, I was living with a large foster family. There were 9 foster kids in total. But, luckily the house was quite big. The foster parents were ok, they just didn't get involved, they let us kids do whatever the hell we wanted. Which, was better than some places. I didn't really get along with any of the other kids, they all knew I was a freak, and kept their distance. All, except for Nick. He was sort of a freak too. And we got along quite well. We both knew how it felt to be the outsider, alone. So, we stuck together, so we didn't have to be alone anymore. Or, at least we could be alone together.

I didn't know much about Nick's story, we never talked about it. All I knew, is that he had a younger sister, but they'd gotten separated at some point along the way. And, he blamed himself for not being there for her. Beyond that, I'm not really sure about Nick's past.

So, it was me and Nick, sat alone in the attic, like we usually were. When this crazy looking cat came bounding in through the window. I stared in awe, nudging Nick to show him, but not wanting to spook the cat. We both just stared at it for a moment, as it sat there staring straight back at us. Then, suddenly, and fantastically, the cat started to change right before our wide eyes. The cat quickly morphing into a woman. A full grown, strange looking, woman. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I could feel Nick shaking a bit beside me.

I rubbed my eyes, to make sure I was really seeing this. My head was starting to hurt from the sheer amazingness of what I had just seen. There was a woman, who was a cat. I mean, I've seen weird things. Really weird things. But, this, by far the most unbelievable thing yet.

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A/N - This is just a short peek at the story, to see if people are interested in my new writing style and the story. So please review to let me know if I should to continue or give up. Thanks. (PS. I written loads already, but I still might just not post it, if people don't like it.)


	2. If You Don't Laugh, You'll Cry

"What the...?" Nick whispered, he sounded as if he'd had all the wind knocked out of him. And, that's exactly how I felt.

"Now, now, calm yourselves down," the woman said, pursing her lips slightly. This was almost as big a shock to me for some reason, I was surprised she could talk. I'm not sure what I was expecting, possibly a meow?

"What _are_ you?" I asked. My eyes still bulging, as I took in this woman's strange appearance. Long, dark robes, and a pointed hat. Straight out of some movie cliche. She didn't look particularly old, but she certainly wasn't young. My mind was trying to understand how she could fit into a cat. I mean, she was clearly much larger than a cat. So, how could she go from being cat sized, to people sized? it was no real surprise my head was throbbing.

"I believe the more pertinent question Miss Nott, is what are _you_," she looked over her spectacles at me and Nick, "I am here, because you are both special. You especially Mr Zambelli, you have powers possessed by no other. I believe to some extent you both know this, but I am here to take you to a place where, your differences will be celebrated, rather than rejected, if you'll come with me?" she smiled kindly.

I considered her words. For some reason I found myself trusting her. I knew I probably shouldn't. I mean, a strange cat jumps through the window, turns into a crazy woman, who knows my name and says I'm special. Usually, this would definitely mean an instant distrust and possibly commitment to an insane asylum. But I looked into her sincere eyes. And I could tell she meant it. I could feel the acceptance radiating from her. It was like nothing I'd ever felt before, the amazing warmth of it. I stood up.

"Lead the way," I beamed. Somewhere I could fit in? I couldn't wait for the chance. Nick tugged on my arm rapidly, as he stood up slowly slightly behind me.

"Shane, what are you doing?" he whispered, he sounded panicked, but I didn't care.

"Come on Nick, you're always talking about getting out of this place, going somewhere we can be ourselves, be free, this is our chance, right here, we either take it, or go on living like this for another few years, until it's too late," I looked into his eyes, I saw how unsure he was, "hey, look at this way. We'll have each other, and if it goes wrong, we'll still have each other, and a cool story to tell." I smirked. He laughed briefly. He nodded slightly. We both turned to look at the strange cat lady. But she was gone. I looked around, turning completely. No sign of her.

"Okay, wait, was that all a delusion?" his brow furrowed in confusion and I'm sure my expression mirrored his, but he looked more than a bit relieved.

"I don't know, it's a distinct possibility," I went to the window and looked out. I almost felt like crying, to have an opportunity dangled in front of me and then ripped away. There was nothing to be seen, except a few owls perched here and there, all along the street.

I heard the doorbell in the distance. Nick came to the window and stood by my side, and we looked down. There was the woman, she was with a man, a very old man from the looks of it. I could just make out the copious amounts of white hair surrounding him.

"Wait, they were not there a second ago," I huffed. I grabbed Nick by the hand and raced down all three flights of stairs.

"Ahh, there they are now," Our foster mother, Karen, put on her typical, false caring smile, "these nice people are looking to adopt you, so you better be on you best behavior now," away from their sight, she just glared as if to say, 'you better get adopted or you're in for it'. I was not about to argue.

I looked at Nick hopefully. He looked eve more cautious and sceptical.

"If it all goes wrong, you have permission to blame me completely" I whispered so no one else could hear.

"If it all goes wrong, I won't worry about asking permission" he whispered back. I heard the old man chuckle. I looked over to see what they were talking about, but everyone else was silent, and looking at him like he was more than a little bit mad. Now, in my opinion, that was a good sign.

Karen ushered everyone down the hall and into the kitchen, which was sort of the main room in the house. She started busying herself making tea, not bothering to ask who wanted any, and got on the phone to social services, who she naturally had on speed dial.

I forcefully nudged Nick into a seat at the table and sat down next to him. The cat lady and the old man sat down too. I watched her movements out of the corner of my eye, half expecting her to turn back into a cat at any moment.

"Hello, Nick, Shane," he nodded towards us, "I'm Professor Dumbledore," I snorted. It was a reaction, I couldn't help it, but Nick elbowed me int the ribs for it. The old man just smiled knowingly as I shrugged.

"I'm Professor McGonagall, I'm sorry for not formerly introducing myself, but we wanted to make sure you would be happy to come before anything was forced upon you," she smiled.

"Where exactly is it you want to take us then?" I asked hurriedly. The old man smiled warmly, as if remembering something lovely. I saw his pale blue eyes sparkle. I was instantly interested in seeing a place that could make an old man so excited.

"We are inviting you to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," his beard twitched, due to his wide smile, "I am the headmaster there, and we would be delighted if you'd join us,"

At that point, Karen came over with two cups of tea and set them down. She went to fetch her tea and came back. She sat down, she was waiting for someone else to speak, not realising she was the one we needed to hear.

"What did they say ma'am?" Professor Dumbledore said, being too polite in my opinion. In no way did Karen deserve it.

"Oh, yes, silly me, they're going to send someone over straight away," she looked over at me and Nick, "They're very excited someone's finally taken an interest in these two, they've been want to get ri- hoping someone would take them home for a while now," She corrected for her own benefit, me and Nick both knew we were bad for business.

We sat in an awkward silence for a while, they were just drinking tea while me and Nick exchanged questioning glances. Karen tried making conversation a few times, but she clearly wasn't very good at it.

"I'm just going to check on the little ones," she said, finally excusing herself. Once she was gone, me and Nick burst out laughing, we couldn't control ourselves.

"What's so funny?" Professor Dumbledore asked, seeming eager to be in on the joke.

"It's just that she-" Nick began, but he was overcome by another wave of laughter.

"She's never once-" I was overcome in the same way.

"She doesn't care one bit," Me and Nick said together, bringing on a hearty giggle, that ended the hysterical laughter.

"Foster kid humour, don't worry," I said sighing, looking at the two puzzled faces, "Cause if you don't laugh, you'll cry," I shared a warm look with Nick and nodded. He's the one who taught me that. When I first got here.

"I do have a question though," Nick hedged after a moment, "The school, it's a school for...witches and wizards?" he said awkwardly, he got a nod from both professors, "so, that makes us...?" he left the question hanging, clearly not wanting to say it out loud, aware of how ridiculous it sounded, but I wanted to know too.

"Yes, you are one witch and one wizard, drawn together in a fantastical display of destiny, brilliant isn't it?" he seemed very excited at the very prospect. Though I'm not entirely sure why, "Though, it is strange that..." he trailed off, going into thought.

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A/N - Okay, so another short little chapter. If people want more, reviews would be nice. I need to know if it's any good people. If not I can change it. If, yes, then I'll know to write more and keep updating and stuff. Thank you. 3


	3. We're Not Flying Today

"What is?" I probed tentatively. Nick just looked at him like he was utterly insane. Which, I'm sure he probably was.

"Well, you see, most of our students join us when they are aged 11 or 12, and you two are 16, meaning you've unfortunately missed much of your education, fortunately we can put you into fifth year, you'll just be the eldest," he reassured calmly, "However, you will need to do some serious catching up, we just don't want you to miss out on your magical education," He smiled warmly.

"That seems quite sensible," I agreed. Nick looked at me open mouthed.

"Absolutely no part of that was sensible Shane," he said, looking at me like I had a third eye. I chose to ignore his offensive gaze.

"I'll admit, it's a bit weird that we're not starting at the same time as everyone else, but really, if you're willing to put in the extra effort, we can catch up," I was brimming with excitement, this is exactly the kind of thing I'd been waiting for my whole life. Nick shook his head at me, his expression clearly showed his lack of understanding. I was slightly disappointed he didn't share my excitement.

At that moment there was a loud knock at the door, the woman from social services had arrived. For the next hour and a half me and Nick didn't get a chance to talk about anything, because the adoption process was being rushed through at an alarming speed. We were bombarded with questions, and then told to sit still and be quiet, while the woman from social services filled out paper work with the speed of a demon and asked the professors a whole stream of important sounding questions.

But, finally, at the end of it, we were adopted. Just like that. I hadn't realised until then just how desperate they were to be rid of us, although I was pretty sure one of the professors had done something to help speed the process a long a little. We were allowed to leave to go and pack. So, I still hadn't had a chance to talk to Nick. The truth was I was barely unpacked. I never really fully unpacked, because each of my stays was short lived, so no point unpacking just to completely pack up again. I threw the few things that were unpacked, clothes and things into my duffel bag and grabbed my suitcases. I was ready to leave.

Nick was downstairs already when I came down, but he didn't look at me as I approached him.

The woman from social services had apparently already left, and our ex-foster mother was nowhere to be seen. So, we walked out with the professors. And just like that we left a whole portion of our lives behind. We both realised, despite my earlier assurances, things were never going to be the same ever again.

"Where are you parked?" I asked looking up and down the street for an unfamiliar car.

"Oh, we're not flying today," Professor Dumbledore winked. I decided not to question it.

Instead, we were instructed to hold on to their arms, I held onto Professor Dumbledore's arm loosely.

"Slightly tighter dear, you'll be thankful for the support," he winked. I gripped tighter. I was starting to worry, in all honesty. But, what happened next, cannot be described in words. It was both the single worst, and best moment of my life. First we were standing in the driveway of our old house, and after a nauseating experience, we were standing outside a small pub.

I sat down abruptly on the kerb, feeling more than a little bit sick. After a few seconds, I stood up. I noticed Nick was clutching on to Professor McGonagall's arm. She had to leave him there as we walked into the pub.

As it turns out, it was more of a tavern, as there were rooms above the bar. Which is where we were going to stay until the beginning of the school year.

"Some friends of mine are going to be arriving with the next couple of days, I have advised them to watch out for you, there are some teenagers about your age who, I'm sure you'll get along with." Professor Dumbledore winked again. I smiled.

"In the mean time, we're having you're school things sent to you, along with quite a few books which should help you catch up on what you've missed," Professor McGonagall said, far more seriously.

Our things were taken to our rooms for us, as the Professor's left. We were left in the almost empty room. Nick sat down at a table.

"Are you going to talk to me?" I asked, standing next to him. He remained silent, "You'll have to talk to me at some point you know?" I poked his shoulder. he stood up and turned to me, we were quite close.

"If you get us killed, I'll torment your spirit for all of eternity, possibly longer, I can't believe you got us into this," he said accusingly.

"It's not my fault we're different," I retorted. He sighed, "Nick, you're like family to me, the closest thing I have anyway, and when I say this, know it comes from a place of love, but, you're being a total tit," I laughed, he pushed me playfully.

We both sat down.

"Ya know, we've got nothing to lose by giving it a try, at worst we'll have wasted a bit of time, time away from that house I might add, and have an interesting story to tell for a few years down the line," I made swirly patterns in the wood table.

"I just, I don't want you to get hurt, you're so ready to believe in all this stuff," Nick mumbled.

"We'll see then, won't we," I laughed.

That night I slept more peacefully than I had in a long time, because I finally had some answers, no matter what Nick said. I knew, in my heart, this was the mystery that had been haunting me my whole life. And, although I was hesitant to admit it to myself, I knew, it meant I was several steps closer to finding my real parents.

Over the next couple of days, people _did_ start arriving.

First, came the secretive older guys. They spent most of the time huddled in the corners whispering to each other. As a fan of conspiracy stories, I was anxious to eavesdrop on their conversations, but Nick reminded me that really we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves too much. He was, unfortunately right. They came the same day we arrived, but quite late in the evening. None of them really acknowledged our presence at first, which Nick found to be a good sign, I didn't want to disagree with him out loud, but I did disagree with him.

I found it hard getting to sleep that, and apparently so did Nick. Back at the foster home, we had this sort of tradition, if either of us couldn't sleep, we'd go to the other's room and we'd stay up talking. So, I wasn't that surprised when Nick crept into my room late that night nestled himself at the end of my bed.

For a while we didn't say anything. I could feel the questions pass between us, we were both thinking the same things. We always knew what the other was thinking. We were alike in a lot of ways really.

When we did start talking, it was about the normal stuff. Music and books. Anything but the magic stuff. And, at some point I must've fallen asleep, though I don't really remember it. I woke up draped over Nick's legs, he was sat watching me, a stupid grin on his face.

"Not funny," I groaned, sitting up. He laughed at me, typical.

He got up and left, I took this time to have a shower and get dressed. There was a heavy feeling in my chest, I could tell this was going to be a long day.

"What I wouldn't give for a Rockstar right now," I sighed to myself.

"I know I've been out of the muggle world for a while, but that sentence didn't really make sense," a voice behind me sounded amused. I jumped out of my skin, and I'm pretty sure I screamed. I don't scream like a girl though, it's more of a yelp, "Sorry, the door was unlocked,"

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A/N...Ahh, who could it be? hehe. Well, I got a friend of mine to read through my story so far, he says it's alright, I made slight alterations, so go back and re-read if ya like. And also. If people are reading this regularly or anything, please review and stuff. Or, I'll stop writing.

PS. I just realised that sounded like a bad threat. What I meant was, I need to know what people think, to know whether to write more, whether to change it slightly etc.


	4. This Is Really Changing You Shane

I turned and saw a boy, about my height. His hair was messy and he had glasses, but somehow that just worked in his favour as far as looks go. A thousand questions bubbled through my mind at once, I barely had a chance to process most of them. What's a muggle? Why are you here? Who are you? Why did you sneak into my room like a creeper? I also thought about calling for Nick. But only one question managed to spew out of my lips.

"How can your hair be that messy?" I said, not the most pressing question, and I'm not even sure why I asked. But, if I was being honest, the sheer messiness of his hair, was sort of freaky. He chuckled. "I'm not even sure why I said that," I shrugged. Pulling my arm warmers further up my arms out of habit. I didn't get a chance to ask any of my real questions before he spoke and distracted my mind.

"Hi, I'm Harry Potter," he extended his hand and I shook it briefly.

"Shane Nott," I replied shrugging. He looked at me strangely.

"You don't know who I am do you?" he asked, his sentence would've sounded arrogant, but he was genuinely surprised, with a hint of something that could've been relief. Though I'm not sure why. I shook my head at him.

"Should I?" I asked. turning from him slightly to grab my brush and pull it through my hair. I could see him stood behind me in the reflection in the mirror.

"I'm not sure," his sentence came out almost cryptically, but what had anyone said to me in the past day that wasn't completely cryptic.

I turned and headed past him, straight to the door. No doubt Nick would be wondering where I was, we had agreed to meet at the bottom of the stairs when we were done getting ready. And Nick was not known for his patience.

I just left the strange boy standing in my room looking confused as I made my way downstairs. I saw Nick there waiting for me as I bounced down the stairs two at a time, he looked worried, but also a bit scared.

"Wassup?" I said jumping down the last few steps and landing with a thud.

"Please save me from these people," Nick whispered looking slightly panicked. I instantly caught the serious edge in his voice.

"What's wrong?" I asked, getting slightly worried. He looked pointedly over at a table, that had a large group of people as around it. I looked over at Nick questioningly. He wanted me to save him from a mass of redheads and teenagers? He just jerked his head in their direction urgently.

I looked at them again. I heard snippets from their conversation.

"...Only if you want to fail your owls Ronald..."

"...are you taking Ancient Runes or History of Magic? I want to finalise my schedule…"

"…you're not going to get into any newt classes that way…"

I looked over at Nick, just as Harry was coming down the stairs. He caught my eye, and I looked up at him. He smiled at me with a nod, Nick looked over his shoulder to see what I was looking at. Nick gave me a strange look as Harry sat down with the group at the table. I rolled my eyes and shrugged. I had no idea what to say to Nick's strange looks and overreactions. This was really turning into a strange and headache inducing morning. I could tell my earlier prediction would prove correct, it was indeed going to be a long day.

I noticed Harry motioning for us to come and sit down causing the two others he was sat near to look our way. I started to step forward, but Nick stopped me with his arm.

"What are you doing?" he asked, he sounded sort of angry. I wasn't sure what to make of his behaviour. He was clearly not taking to the sudden shift in reality the same way I was.

"I was just gonna go and sit," motioning subtly over to the table, I was trying to read his expression, usually I could tell what he was thinking just by the look on his face, but he was suddenly unreadable, "come and sit me," I tried to smile at him, despite his dark expression.

"This is really changing you Shane," he sounded really hurt. I was suddenly confused. He dropped his arm. And his head. Nick's moods never made sense to anyone but Nick, but this was really unlike him. He was never usually so cold to me.

"I don't understand," I shook my head, "What do you mean?" He didn't respond. He didn't even bother to look up, "Well, when you get over yourself, you know where I'll be," I snapped, I was angry I'll admit. But, I hated it when he just shut down on me. I told him a million times, if he's got an issue with me, just tell me, and we'll sort it out. But, that was just one of his flaws, not being able to talk to me about stuff like that.

I quickly strode over to where Harry was sat at the long wood table and sat down next to him. I refused to give Nick another glance.

I was instantly greeted warmly. Harry quickly introduced me to his friends. They were all really nice. Hermione instantly offered to help me catch up on work after I told her about not having any magical knowledge at all. For some reason this made everyone else laughed. But I gladly accepted her offer. I tried to talk to Ron, but for the most part he just went red and started to ramble incoherently. Harry whispered in my ear.

"He doesn't have much practice talking to real girls," I laughed at this.

Then I met the rest of the Weasley family. They were all really cool. Fred and George seemed to get a kick out of jokes at Ron's expense, which he did not take well. but I could tell they were all really close as a family. Ginny was sort of shy, but I could tell that had more to do with Harry's glances her way than my presence at the table. it was sort of sweet really, the way they glanced at eachother while the other one wasn't looking.

Then Mrs Weasley came to introduce herself to me.

"Oh hello dear," She smiled broadly pulling me up into a large hug. I was completely taken off guard. Nick was really the only person I let hug me. But it was nice. Her large, warm arms were obviously used to hugging people. It felt so totally natural.

"I'm Mrs Weasley," she smiled, pulling away, "I see you've met everyone, I hope they've all been nice," she said, staring pointedly at Fred and George who made the most over exaggerated innocent expressions, making me laugh.

"Everyone's been more than nice, thank you Mrs Weasley," I stole a glance over at where Nick had sat down at a table on his own, he was glaring over at us. I quickly turned back, ignoring him.

"If there's anything you need dear, you just let me know, alright?" I nodded smiling at her, as she hugged me again. She turned to leave, but not before throwing Fred and George another warning look.

I sat back down next to Harry, smiling broadly. I'd never felt so accepted before, not once. Well, except for with Nick of course. I suddenly felt bad for him, sat all alone, being broody.

"What's up with your friend over there?" Harry asked, tipping his head towards Nick, who was still staring.

"I'm not entirely sure," I shrugged, "I guess he sort of blames me for us being here," I sighed. I just wish he'd talk to me about it. Nick was good at being mad at people without letting them know why. The thing was, it was nearly always what made any fights we had worse. Because he refused to tell me what I'd done wrong.

"You should try and talk to him," Harry smiled. I just nodded, I knew he was right, but being the bigger person wasn't always something I was good at. Harry turned to talk to the rest of the group. It took me another minute before I stood.

I approached Nick's table with caution. He still looked really mad at me as his eyes followed me.

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A/N Thanks for reading, please review and stuff. I know these are just the introduction chapters and at some point I might just combine them all or something, but thanks anyway :)


	5. Do They Know I'm Here?

"Can I sit?" I asked, trying to sound as apathetic as possible. He didn't say anything, he just glared. So I sat down.

I let the silence settle for a moment. I was desperately trying to think of a way to talk to him without making him more mad at me.

"I'm sorry I brought this upon you, my boy. I'm sorry you must carry this burden. I'm sorry for everything!" I quoted sincerely, "I'm very selfish, you know. Yes, I am. Very selfish."

"I think we're past the point where clever Lord of the Rings quotes will get you back into my good graces," He looked at me, but I could see the beginnings of a smile.

"I summon you to fulfill your oath." I nodded at him. I knew he would understand. He smiled.

"You always did know exactly what convoluted Lord of the Rings quotes to use on me," he leaned across the table and hugged me. I almost cried, "And, you know, a promise is a promise Shane, as the King of the Dead, you hold me oath-bound," he pulled away and looked me straight in the eye.

"And don't you forget it," I smiled. We fell into a sort of comfortable silence. I could tell Nick was getting ready to say something, so I waited for him. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I don't want you getting your hopes up," he didn't look at me as he spoke, "I know you've been waiting for this for a long time, I just, don't want you to get hurt," he cleared his throat awkwardly, I could tell he wasn't finished, "I don't trust this, even after what we've seen, I don't trust any of it," I didn't think it was a good idea to mention he hadn't even given it a chance, "I'm scared," he mumbled, but I heard him.

He finally looked up at me, running his hand through his overgrown, brown hair. He looked slightly vulnerable, it was a rare thing for him, vulnerability. I shook my head.

"Nick, I'm not stupid, I've know I've got you," I smiled at him, "and as long as you're here, there's not a damn chance anything bad can happen" he laughed at that, "But, I know if you give them a chance, you'd really like them" I said looking briefly over at the table, where harry and his friends sat. Nick gave me a skeptical look, but I dragged him over there anyway.

I was right of course. Nick and Harry instantly got along. And he started really get along with everyone, when suddenly Professor Dumbledore appeared out of nowhere. And when I say that, I really mean it, he suddenly popped into the room.

He shared a knowing look with Harry. I averted my eyes, as I felt as if I were intruding on a personal conversation. I knew something was going on, but it was none of my business.

"Miss Nott?" Dumbledore addressed me. I stood up, "Follow me please," he turned and I followed. I threw a nervous look over my shoulder to Nick, he shrugged.

He led me into a back room, where there was a small table set up. He sat down and indicated that I should do the same. As soon as I was seated he began to speak.

"Now, I've been working on looking into yours and Mr Zambelli's pasts," he paused, to let the idea sink in, "and, while our efforts have not uncovered any new information on your friend, we were instantly drawn to a certain family, by your last name, and have in fact, discovered quite a bit more information for you," Dumbledore smiled knowingly at me expression. I wasn't sure how to react.

He was telling me he'd found my family, I should be happy. I was just confused, and slightly sad. I always sort of hoped they'd died in some sort disastrous crime. But, the fact they were alive and well, meant they had chosen to abandon me. They just didn't want me.

"Do they know I'm here?" I asked, I didn't want to know the answer, I really didn't.

"No, you're presence here has been kept very secret up to this point," he smiled, "It's your choice what you want to do, no one will force you into anything," he put his hand on my arm comfortingly.

"I don't want them to know I'm here, I don't want them to know anything," I nodded quickly, "I'd rather stay unknown," I swallowed. Dumbledore nodded understanding, "If it's possible, I mean, I'd rather no one else know who I am, you know, seeing as how I don't really," I started to ramble slightly.

"You want to make sure no one will recognise you by your last name?" Dumbledore offered, his old face looked at me, with no judgment in his eyes. I felt sort of guilty for something, though I'm not sure what. I nodded, "Well, it would be your choice entirely to change your last name, just chose one and we can arrange that for you," he smiled. I pondered a moment.

"Shane Estel has sort of a ring to it," I almost laughed, knowing that only Nick would get the true perfectness of that as a last name for me right now. I really did feel like a young Aragorn hiding my true identity. My life had never been more comparable to Lord of the Rings before.

"Then it shall be," Dumbledore nodded standing up, "and don't hesitate to let me know if you change your mind," he smiled as he left.

I suddenly felt overwhelmed. I had been handling this all so well, right up to this point. I mean, I was a witch, not really a surprise. There was a whole community of witches and wizards, kind of cool actually. But, I had a family. That was too much for me. I wasn't sure if I could handle it. I needed Nick.

I stood up swiftly, and left. I paused at the door and looked over at Nick, he was laughing along with the group at the table. He seemed more happy than I'd seen him in a while. I sighed. I couldn't ruin his mood.

They day had barely started, but I was already emotionally exhausted. I guess it was to be expected. My life was changing, drastically, and I had not been expecting it at all.

With a fake smile carefully pulled into place, I walked slowly over to where everyone was sitting. I decided to take a seat across from Nick, next to where Hermione was sitting. Nick shot me a look, he was asking if I was alright. I smiled a little bit wider and nodded slightly. He turned back to the group, he seemed to be convinced.

That morning was fun, getting to know everyone, being told such amazing stories about Hogwarts and the magical world. Harry and his friends had done such amazing things. I was so jealous of all the brave things they'd done. They told us about the war, about Voldemort and about their battles throughout the years they'd been at Hogwarts. I was totally amazed.

"What about you?" Hermione asked, smiling.

"What about me?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Well, we've told you all about the stuff we get up to, what about you?" Hermione looked at me expectantly. I looked over and saw Harry and Ron trying to explain something to Nick. I turned back to Hermione.

"There's not much to tell really, I mean, my life is tragically boring compared to yours," I sighed slightly.

"Well, you have your lip pierced, you're clearly not that boring," she pointed out. My hand reflexively reached up to the corner of my lip, where I had a large spike sticking out.

"Yeah, Nick and I got them done together," I smiled at the memory, "But, really, there's nothing that interesting to say, I never new my parents, I grew up in foster homes, and you know, that's sort of it," I smiled shyly. I desperately wished at that moment that my life had been more interesting, anything to impress these guys. I was slightly afraid they'd find out how boring I really was and not want to talk to me anymore.

"Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that," Hermione said earnestly, "I actually grew up in the muggle world," she nodded, "Both my parents are muggles, dentists," she clarified.

"I have to admit, I'm sort of glad," I admitted, "I was starting to feel a little bit cut off from everything," she nodded knowingly.

"Yeah, Harry grew up with a muggle family too, it's sort of nice to have someone to share muggle references with," she rolled her eyes "because I can't really share magical stuff with my parents, so, it's nice that my muggle life doesn't have to be completely separate from my magical one," She looked kind of sad.

We enjoyed a moment of silence, watching the boys talk. Nick looked really confused, the look on his face made me laugh.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Hermione said suddenly, pulling something out of her pocket, "Dumbledore left those with me this morning, before you came down," she handed me two envelopes.

I looked down at them, one had my name on it, the other Nick's. I threw the envelope at Nick, without thinking to warn him, and unfortunately, he wasn't paying attention and it hit him in the side of the head.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I was distracted by my name on the envelope. Shane Estel. How had he known. I didn't know. I shook my head. Hermione must've been confused, it must've been before I came out from the back room.

* * *

A/N OKay, here's the new chapter. They're all about 1,500 words or so, just to let you know. Let me know if you think they should be shorter of longer or anything :)

And, thank you to crazinessgirl3 for reminding me that I can't quit yet, you still haven't met Draco. That'll start in the next chapter by the way ;)


	6. What A Weirdo

I opened the envelope. I read the letter through a few times.

_Shane,_

_The beginning of term is September 1st and before this time, you will need to acquire a few books. There is much for you to catch up on, but I am certain Miss Granger will be more than happy to offer her assistance. I have let some money with Mrs Weasley, with instructions to take you all to Diagon Alley this afternoon. I hope you find all that you need, and remember if you change your mind, you know where to find me._

The note was followed by a list of books and items I needed. It was quite a long list. It was signed Albus Dumbledore.

I turned to Hermione.

"What's Diagon Alley?"

At that point everyone around me began to describe various aspects of Diagon Alley. I was glad that we were going to get more well acquainted with the wizarding world. I had to admit, I had become more eager to leave as I had been told what to expect.

I could tell Nick was not as excited as me, but at least he hadn't flat out refused to go. Everyone was busy getting ready to leave. I'd snuck off into my room, I needed time to think. I needed just to be alone for a while.

I was sat on the windowsill when I saw first saw him. I was looking down into the busy street, his bright hair caught my eye. I watched as his silvery head walked along. His stride was so full of power and purpose. Suddenly he stopped, I leant forward slightly to see what had caught his eye.

Without warning he looked right at me. I looked back down at him. Unfortunately, at that exact moment, Nick came bursting into my room. I was too focused on the boy in the street, and so was taken completely off guard. I fell back and landed on the floor quite painfully. Of course, Nick didn't ask if I was alright, or offer to help me up. He just stared down at me, laughing.

"Fuck you," I grumbled. I stood up and dusted myself off, "Did you actually want something, other than to be arsehole?" I snapped. He laughed again. I only glared at me.

"We're leaving now," he smiled. Holding out his hand for me to take. I knew this was as close to an apology as I was going to get. I took his hand, grudgingly swallowing my pride. There was no point anyway, Nick knew me inside and out.

"Ya know, Dumbledore told me earlier that he found my family," I confessed before we had a chance to walk out the door. Nick stopped and turned to me, he looked really surprised, "I don't want to know them, you know, I'm just going to pretend, like I did before," I sighed, but his expression changed, he understood. I'd always liked to imagine my family had just died in a tragic fire, and I'd been quickly saved. At least that way I could pretend I'd been loved.

"I get it Shane, I do," Nick rubbed my arm comfortingly.

"I'm changing my last name too, so I can stay undetected," he looked at me expectantly, "Shane Estel," he laughed. I knew he'd understand my dorky reference. I suddenly got hit with a wave of emotion. I was scared. I didn't know what I'd do if I didn't have Nick. I had the worst feeling ever, like I was going to lose him. I'm not entirely sure what happened but I suddenly reached up and hugged him tightly. His hand, which I neglected to let go of, was squashed between us, along with mine.

When I pulled away, I had tears running down my face. Nick didn't ask me questions, he just wiped my tears away and led me downstairs. Knowing me well enough not to let go of my hand until I let him. I needed him, I needed his hand. I felt like I was losing him and that was the scariest thought I've ever had.

When we got to the top of the stairs, I could tell everyone was waiting for us. We hurried down the stairs and joined the group. I caught a strange look from Harry, who's eyes flicked between my face and Nick's hand grasping mine. I shrugged it off and followed everyone else through a back door. I was instantly confused when we were met by a brick wall. It was a tight fit, getting everyone into the small nook. But somehow we got the door closed behind us.

I couldn't quite tell what was going on up front, but suddenly, there was no wall. I watched as the bricks moved aside to reveal something I had no words for. It was beautiful, the bustling, busy street laid out in front of us. I gasped, and almost dropped Nick's hand in favour of surging forward into the street. I'd never seen anything like it in my life. Everything was so alive.

"Shane," Nick whispered in my ear, "my hand," I looked down to see I was gripping on to his hand quite tightly. I loosened my grip.

"Sorry," I whispered, I was still grinning though, "But, isn't it so beautiful," I sighed. He chuckled.

We started moving forward, I looked all around at the shop fronts. There were magical displays, literally, of moving products. I saw flyers with pictures that moved and talked. People magically appearing and disappearing all over the place. I was in awe.

We entered the street as quite a large group, but slowly people wandered off into different shops. Mrs Weasley called out to each of them as they moved away, calls of worry and concern. It was something I hadn't seen or heard in quite some time unfortunately.

Soon, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Hermione, Nick and I were the only ones left as we headed towards our first destination, Flourish and Blotts a bookstore.

Upon entering, it was just like any other bookshop really. Shelves full of books of all different shapes and sizes, displays piled high with books on goodness knows what kind of amazing topics.

I was pleasantly surprised that the store had the familiar scent of books. It may sound strange, but I almost expected the books to smell different here. I was glad they didn't, as I absolutely adore the smell of books. Hermione caught me breathing in the heady scent sent me a knowing look.

I pulled the list out of my pocket and gave it a look over. Books made up the majority of the items on the list, which I was thankful for. I hadn't been able to buy new books in quite a while, usually I made do with the books that were already present in each new foster home I was in.

I picked up a particularly interesting book just inside the store. Mr and Mrs Weasley had walked off into the store with several lists in their hands.

"Would you like me to leave you two alone for a minute?" Nick laughed, indicating me and the book. I had leant in quite close to read the contents page. Partly because of the bad lighting in the store, partly to better inhale the familiar scent.

"Whatever," I said, elbowing Nick in the side. I put the book down and looked instead at the list.

It took quite a while, but we finally made it over half way through the list of books on the list. By that point we had at least twenty books.

"So, how long do you think it'll take you to make your way through these?" Hermione asked indicating the massive pile of books I had in a bag. I turned to her, Nick was nowhere in sight.

"Sort of depends on the writing style and topics," I sighed, "And, of course if it all goes completely over my head," I laughed slightly. I picked up an interesting looking book, completely forgetting the book I was supposed to be looking for.

"Well, they're pretty well written, so if you start with the beginner stuff and work your way up, you shouldn't have a problem," she smiled picking up a book.

"Thanks," I smiled. I wasn't particularly used to people being so nice to me unless they wanted something, except for Nick obviously.

"You'll never guess what I just found?" Speak of the devil. I didn't bother replying, I could tell by the look on his face he was being totally rhetorical, "They have a book on Creatures, real magical ones," I sighed. This wasn't really amazing news. He handed me the book, it was open on a page. I gasped.

"Dragons," I shook my head, "You mean it's a book of Mythical Creatures," he closed the book. I read the title. "Creatures of the Magical World" I looked over at Hermione, she was smiling.

"I've actually seen some, up close," Okay, magic and wizards, that was one thing, but Dragons? Really?

I added the book to my pile. Nick just smirked at me.

It took another forty minutes before we'd collected the rest of the books. We met up with Mr and Mrs Weasley who were already waiting downstairs for us. Mrs Weasley took our books and added them to her bag, which seemed not to get any bigger at all.

"We'll pay for these, why don't you three go and meet up with Harry and Ron," she smiled, "You can pick up the other things on the list," she said. She handed Hermione what appeared to be money.

I gave Mrs Weasley a one armed hug. She's the kind of person I'd always imagined my mother would have been.

We followed Hermione out of the shop and back into the street. She led us to another shop, the sign overhead declared it to be Quality Quidditch Supplies, this place was much busier than Flourish and Blotts. As we walked in, I saw something I had not been expected.

I had always been prone to unexpected fits of laughter. Sometimes for no reason at all. But, this was something else. As soon as I saw the broomsticks on the wall I couldn't control my laughter. I saw Nick roll his eyes at me, before he walked over to Harry and Ron.

"They're broomsticks," I laughed, turning to Hermione. She nodded.

"Yeah, I was sort of surprised at first, but people do really fly on them," she shuddered, "I'm not so keen myself," I could only laugh and shake my head. I wasn't sure anything could surprise me more than this. I slowly walked over to where the boys were standing.

"Yeah, it's just like we were explaining this morning," Ron grinned at Nick, who had the look of someone who had finally completed a really hard puzzle.

I glanced up at the ceiling, where I could just make out small objects whizzing around in the air. I was still sort of in shock. The wizarding world was getting more and more bizarre, but it still fit some of the more obvious cliche's. I mean, flying on broomsticks?

I was busy staring at all the different styles of broom on the walls, when Mr and Mrs Weasley came in.

"Thought we'd find you lot in here," Mr Weasley smiled affectionately.

I turned back to the wall I was looking at. Marveling at the brooms.

"Interesting in flying already are we?" Mr Weasley asked smiling down at me, jerking his at the wall of broomsticks.

"I guess so, I mean, it's fascinating," he laughed.

We turned and walked back towards where everyone else was.

"I wonder if you have some time later you'd be interested in telling me a bit about the muggle world," he smiled hopefully.

"Dad, Shane doesn't want to explain toasters to you either," Ron sighed loudly. We'd just stepped close enough for the group to hear us, clearly.

"Ron," I stared at him pointedly, I looked back at Mr Weasley, "I'd love to answer any questions you have Mr Weasley, gladly" I added the last word loudly, looking straight at Ron. He turned bright red and pretended to be fully engrossed in his shoes.

We headed over to a wand shop next. Of course, I had a good old chuckle at the idea of wizards using wands and flying on brooms. Mr Weasley volunteered to take me and Nick into Ollivander's to get our wands.

The whole process was strange and embarrassing. Nick was allowed to have the first wand he touched, which glowed an amazing gold under his touch before shooting off red sparks. I, on the other hand, was handed wand after wand, each as anticlimactic as the last. The wirey haired man seemed to become quite frantic, I was starting to wonder if they were wrong about me, if I was even a witch at all.

I was almost ready to run out of the shop crying, when Mr Ollivander stopped suddenly in the middle of the room.

"I wonder," he pondered, slowly walking over to the counter, he pulled out a black box with beautiful gold lettering, "this is a very rare wand indeed, Hazel with an Augurey tail feather and unicorn hair core," he hushed as he walked towards me, "It's very powerful, here" he said holding out the wand for me to take, "try it,"

I reached out my hand and grasped the wand. As soon as my hand made contact with the wand it radiated a silvery glow. I watched in amazement as a long stream of silver shot from the end of the wand. I only looked up when the wand had stopped glowing and returned to normal. Three faces were staring at me open mouthed. I chose not to speak.

"Well, I believe we've finally found a home for a very old wand," Ollivander looked pleased and worried in equal measure.

Mr Weasley told me and Nick to wait outside as he went over to the counter, sharing hushed whispers with Ollivander. I had no desire to hear what they were saying about me, so I hurried out of the door, not giving Nick the chance to catch up. As I stepped out of the door, I collided with someone quite hard.

"Watch where you're going," the voice whipped out as I was knocked to the floor. I landed on my butt with an 'oof'.

"I'm the one who got knocked on her arse, why don't you watch where you're going," I snapped. I felt Nick's arms picking me up off the ground from in the doorway. When I was on my feet, I finally looked at the person I'd collided with. I recognised him instantly.

"You," he accused. His startling grey eyes staring at me.

"Sorry, do I know you?" I asked, trying to pretend I hadn't been staring at him like a creep this morning. I saw Nick shoot strange looks between me and him out of the corner of my eye. I ignored him.

"I'm Draco Malfoy," he extended his hand pompously, but I shook it anyway.

"Shane," I shrugged. He didn't release my hand. His eyes were staring at me with such intensity, my heartbeat was becoming erratic and my face was getting hot. I quickly dropped my gaze to the ground.

Nick coughed awkwardly. Draco let go of my hand. Nick put his arm around me protectively. I could see Draco's eyes following his movements closely.

"I'll be seeing you then," he nodded curtly in Nick's direction, his eyes lingered on my face for a moment more before he walked off. I watched him walking off for a moment, my eyes following his powerful stride, before he turned into a shop and disappeared.

"What a weirdo," Nick cleared his throat, I turned back in time to see Mr Weasley emerging from the store with two wand boxes in hand. We quickly went to catch up with the others.

A few hours later, after going from shop to shop, buying school supplies, I was a bit exhausted. Everyone decided it was time to head back the The Leaky Cauldron for some dinner. We started to head off and Mr Weasley called to let everyone know he'd catch up after doing some things. He hurried off and we went on without him.

* * *

A/N Thanks to crazinessgirl3 and FallenStar22 for reviewing, I needed the motivation :) That said I did have a bit of trouble writing the Diagon Alley stuff, so I just hope it's good enough. This chapter is in fact longer than all the others, so hope you enjoyed ;)


	7. An Update

Okay, it's been too long :/ Unfortunately, the next three chapters that I had written up have sort of...disappeared. So, I've been trying to re-write them. However, they're not really coming out right. That's why I started writing my other Fic (True Love Waits), I needed a distraction so that I could get back into this fic in a little while.

I'm not sure how long I'll keep you waiting though. I might start on this fic again after I've finished TLW. But, it might be before that, depending on how inspired I get.

I am really sorry guys. I'll try and get back to writing this story as soon as i can. I hope you guys can bear with me until then :/

Sorry again.

Cat xx


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